A Tea Party Democrat challenges Frank Pallone

I noted the other day that the Tea Party movement is more complex than most commentators realize. As evidence I cited the candidacy of Mark Falzon in the Democratic primary to unseat Frank Pallone, a key sponsor of Obamacare.

Democratic primaries being what they are, Falzon has little chance of upsetting a long-term congressman. But here for your reading pleasure is his press release announcing the candicacy:

Middletown, NJ – Coining the phrase “The Tea Party is not just for Republicans anymore”, Mark A. Falzon filed his nomination by petition to challenge the 11-term liberal Democrat, Frank Pallone.

Mark is and has been a tireless supporter of every local Tea Party groups. Including serving as a spokesman for OCCFF, as Event Director, Jersey Shore Tea Party Patriots and a as a member of the Leadership Council at the Bayshore Tea Party. He is also the IT Chair for the Recall Menendez drive. “ The Tea Party Movement is bi-partisan and will be also reclaiming solid conservative Democratic ideals.”

Over the past decade, Mark has noticed and become acutely aware of just how far the Democratic Party has strayed from the Party of John Kennedy. The “democrats” in Congress now, to the extent you can even call them that anymore, including Frank Pallone are what Mark affectionately refers to as “leftist radicals” whose agenda is one focused on tearing down our great Nation through oppressive taxation and regulation and unconstitutional entitlements funded by a crippling mountain of debt.

Mark knows what we all know, that today’s “democrats” bear not the slightest resemblance to those that loved their Country in the past.

From TARP abuse, Cap and Trade, Health Care Abuse, to “Hard Coding” the Patriot Act, the Democrats in power today exist only to achieve more power at the expense of American Exceptionalism. Frank Pallone has been a loyal foot soldier in that elitist, radical regime for more than 20 years and it’s time for him to go.

Mark hopes his candidacy for the 6th District Democratic nomination will serve as a blueprint for others in the near future. “Get out there and defeat these radicals in their own primaries. Don't just rely on Republicans. We must limit their sacred ground and limit their comfortable ports of call. We can and will assault them from every quarter. We are a true grassroots Movement impacting both parties, tens of millions of us rising to save this beloved nation.”

AND WHILE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT of congressmen who need to face primary challenges, check out how far to the left some of our GOP representatives rank on the scale of the ultra-liberal Americans for Democratic Action. Go to Page 16 of this .pdf file and you'll see that Frank LoBiondo scored an inexcusable 60 on the ADA scale. He was outdone by Chris Smith, who scored 65, far ahead of many Democrats. The average for Republicans was a mere 22.Conservative Congressman Scott Garrett scored a 5.

Many in the media term Smith a conservative solely because of his opposition to abortion, but his voting record is proof that the terms "pro-life" and" conservative" are not necessarily synonymous.

Those rankings are for 2008, but LoBiondo and Smith were among just a handful of Republicans nationally who voted for that Al Gore-inspired cap-and-trade bill in 2009.

Both LoBiondo and Smith are facing primary challenges from Tea Party-affiliated candidates. The Tea Partiers would do a much better job of representing New Jersey conservatives. And that's what makes Republican primaries interesting.

UPDATE: Here's a piece on that poll showing an even split between supporting Ron Paul and Sarah Palin. The theoretical significance for the 2012 race, of course, is that Palin will be just one of a handful of candidates splitting up the mainstream GOP vote while Paul will have a large contingent all his own - assuming of course both run.

ALSO: Check Justin Raimondo's piece on how the leaders of both parties fear grass-root movements. I particularly like his analysis of the way in which the media treat Neo-Can David Frum as some sort of spokesman for American conservatism:

David Frum, the Bush speechwriter and co-author of the "axis of evil" catchphrase, has become the liberal establishment’s favorite interview subject because he now spends all his time attacking "right-wing extremism," most especially the explicitly libertarian elements of the tea party movement.